Computed tomography devices can for example be cooled by air. In such cases this provides the opportunity on the one hand of letting the air circulate in a closed circuit in the gantry. In this system the air circulates in a closed circuit and is cooled down by a heat exchanger, for example water. On the other hand the air from the examination room can be sucked in via openings in cladding of the computed tomography device (CT device) for the purpose of cooling and can be emitted heated up again to the room.
In an intervention room or operating room there are mostly specific air flow conditions in existence, which are embodied in particular in accordance with the teaching of clean room technology. In such situations air flows from the ceiling to the floor around the patient and in this way forms a germ-free environment in the vicinity of the patient. This air flow is aligned, has a speed of flow of between 0.2 and 0.3 meters per second for example, is predominantly laminar and is referred to below as low-turbulence displacement flow, abbreviated in German to TAV. TAV is also known to the person skilled in the art by the terms laminar flow and laminar air flow.
The TAV must not be disturbed by the cooling of the CT device. Depending on how the room in which the CT device is set up is equipped, and how the CT device is used, a relatively large field is provided with TAV, which with a usual size of three meters by three meters for example can also comprise an operating instrument table for example, or a relatively small field is provided, which is essentially restricted to the operating area on the patient.
If the CT device is now not located outside the TAV field, but is located in this field or only partly in this field, then a displacement and deflection of the flow takes place on the surfaces of the CT device. In this case the CT device forms an obstacle to the flow. Moreover the sucking in and blowing out of the air at respective surfaces of the cladding of the CT device means that the TAV flow is likewise influenced.
The possible consequences thereof are for example an increased speed of flow, which in particular can be attributed to the displacement effect of the CT device as a body in the flow, an increased deflection of the flow and also an increased flow breakup, which can be attributed in particular to an unfavorable outer contour of the CT device. All three effects lead to the disturbance of the TAV by turbulences.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,988,827 B2 discloses a cooling system for a gantry of a CT device.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,374,338 B2 discloses a cooling system for a gantry of a CT device.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,410,295 B2 discloses a cooling system for a gantry of a CT device.
US 2014/0378817 A1 discloses a cooling system for a CT device, in which the air inflow opening and the air outflow openings are arranged relatively far down, wherein the air exiting from the CT device is directed via the air outflow opening below a sterile field for surgical interventions. Because of the displacement effect of the CT device this can result in a significant disturbance of the TAV however.